Theme and Structure in Melville's The Confidence Man

Abstract

N OTWITHSTANDING THE ENORMOUS VOLUME of critical commentary on Melville's works during recent years, only a few students of The Confidence Man seem to have grasped the book's significance as a document reflecting Melville's characteristic attitudes; and no one, apparently, has fully clarified its complex and devastating meaning. I offer here an analysis that seems to me to be more complete than any of those currently available. First of all, it is clear that The Confidence Man, like other of Melville's works, is a penetrating artistic critique of American attitudes and mores. We find, for example, Melville's most characteristic image, the microcosmic boat, cast not on distant seas but on the Mississippi River, this nation's central artery. Furthermore, the day upon which the boat embarks is the first of April-April Fool's Day. The cast of characters further typifies the American scene. All are engaged in typically American pursuits, and the melting pot quality of this country is readily apparent in the dramatis personae in which there was no lack of variety. Embodied in these characters and in the ensuing action is Melville's criticism of American values. He is finding fault with the country's easy optimism, its excessive and illogical faith in science, business, and nature, its distortion of the real meanings of charity and benevolence, and, above all, its smug complacency and overconfidence. This is Melville's simple text; his method of presenting this text, however, is highly complicated.